Waste to energy plant

Electricity generated from biomass has a part to play in our energy transition.  A small part, but still useful.

From Melbourne's The Age newspaper:

Melbourne’s western suburbs, which have long been blighted by stinking rubbish tips, could be the site of a waste to energy plant that would convert household waste into enough electricity to power up to 20,000 houses.

The $100 million plant, proposed for Laverton North, would take up to 200,000 tonnes a year of residual household waste which is currently sent to landfill. This is the equivalent of household waste from three to four councils.

Using a process known as gasification the waste would be heated at a very high temperature where air is limited to ensure it doesn't burn. The waste is converted into a gas that is then used to heat water into steam and drive a turbine to produce electricity.

Thermal waste to energy technologies such as gasification and incineration – where rubbish is burned – are common methods of rubbish disposal in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

However Australia has been slow to embrace them, in part due to the cheap cost of landfill.

Last year Western Metropolitan MP Cesar Melhem undertook consultation on the opportunity for waste to energy in Melbourne’s west.

“People want to see an end to landfill – the odour, rubbish flying all over the place. Houses are encroaching on landfill,” he said.

His consultation found there was broad support for waste to energy in Melbourne, although the community had concerns about how the technology worked, what risks it might lead to and how hazardous byproducts such as fly ash would be handled.

Mr Melhem said that in this day and age anything that created methane, such as organic and food , should be banned from landfill.

“I think waste to energy is an absolutely great way to go about handling residual waste into the future,” he said.

“All the experts are telling me that if you use the European standards, emissions are lower than landfill and we can generate electricity.”

[Read more here]

This plant would use just a small proportion of the rubbish greater Melbourne produces each year.  I estimate we could produce 5% -10% of our electricity from similar waste-to-energy plants, or almost as much as we get from hydro power.

Source: The Age